Kent/Feldspar

[videointhenoise]

"Just once more," they had said when Ellie's team petitioned for it. She was busy with Palmer, falling in love with science while he fell in love with God, and Kent was left to pick up the pieces. He wanted another damn go at it. The Machine had a pricetag in the billions; it was begging to be used again.

But they wouldn't let Ellie go. They wouldn't let just anyone go. They wanted someone who knew how it worked, who had been there from the beginning, but someone who isn't completely taken in by Ellie's words.

That leads them to a dozen people and they end up with Kent. He's blind, but that's not what decides it. They claim that he wouldn't hallucinate the way Ellie did. That he has a unique perspective.

And, he's already proven himself steady and loyal.

He experiences it all the way that Ellie does, but something goes wrong on the other end. Maybe another terrorist attack. Maybe not. All he knows is that he's in the sphere and then, suddenly, he's floating, unable to find his footing until a great crash and he slams into the bottom of the machine.

He groans, pulling his helmet on with a grunt and a wince.

"Fuck this," he mutters, finding the edge of the sphere with his hands. There was a door there somewhere. He just - has to find it.

Comments

[getfeldsparred]

So Kent had thought they’d died. It makes sense. It makes sense they’d all lost hope for finding them.

They pull back and their chin drops to their chest, their tears falling just as freely as Kent’s.

“I don’t think this is real,” they admit, voice hoarse. “I’ve hallucinated this before.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent breathes out, bringing their fingers to kiss. "One time, I went to New York City and went all the way to the top of the skyscraper. I could hear the chopper because there was really bad traffic...or maybe a robber."

He smiles a little. "Does your hallucination know how to talk Earth gibberish?"

[getfeldsparred]

“I listened more than I let on.” But the touch of Kent’s lips to their fingers isn’t something they’d ever hallucinated before. Maybe they’ve finally died. That would make sense, Gabbro flying through the Dark Bramble talking about time loops, the sun exploding, the alien ship.

They pull their hand back. “Maybe I never made it out of the Dark Bramble.”

[videointhenoise]

He's abruptly alone again and he frowns. "Baby..." he says softly, reaching out gently for him. "What happened there?"

[getfeldsparred]

They don’t pull away again, but they do flinch when Kent tries to touch them again.

This isn’t right. Hallucination or not, they can’t let the facade slip. They can see what they’re doing to Kent - what they’ve already done to him - and shake their head softly.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” they tell him. “It just all feels like a dream still. And I missed you and Lapis so much.”

[videointhenoise]

"Alright."

He doesn't push. He can't. Not now. "I won't ask. You need to rest, alright?"

[getfeldsparred]

They appreciate that Kent won’t ask. They’re not ready, and the thought of having to relive it, if only through telling the story of the crash, makes them jittery.

“Can I see the hatchling?”

The. Not ‘our’. They don’t even realize their mistake.

[videointhenoise]

Kent notices it but he doesn't let any dismay show.

This is going to be a process, and he's here for the long haul.

"They're just outside. Do you want me to bring them in?" he wonders, pushing himself to standing.

[getfeldsparred]

“Please do,” they say, zero hesitation in their voice. They need to ask them about a few things - mainly what the hell did they mean by ‘the loops’, how did they know about the sun, how did they even do all of this-

There are too many unknowns, and Feldspar can’t concentrate on the man in front of them with their brain still jumbled up. They do stare at him for a minute though, as though Kent might finally disappear again.

[videointhenoise]

He nods and feels his way to the door, his hand on the wall. He opens it and Lapis glances in, staring at Feldspar with a longing sort of expression for a moment before they walk inside and take their Dad's hand. "Stay, Dad? Okay? I'm sure you have questions, too."

They settle down in front of Feldspar, helping their Dad to the floor without falling.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar stays perfectly still as Lapis helps their dad down onto the floor. They look up at their strapping hatchling with ancient, tired eyes, their own gaze hollow.

“I heard a little of what you said to Gabbro,” they say, voice little more with a whisper but still confident. “How did the loop start? How many times did you find me?”

[videointhenoise]

Lapis thinks a moment. "A dozen or so. I stopped after a while because you never remembered. But sometimes I spent the entire loop with you," they explain.

[getfeldsparred]

Lapis is right, they don’t remember, not a damn thing. They had company how many times and can’t remember any of those moments?

They wonder what they were like. Were they still energetic enough to be excited by the sight of their hatching as a full blown astronaut? They’ll never know.

“How did it start? With the death of the sun?”

[videointhenoise]

Lapis pauses. "It started - yeah. With the sun going supernova and creating enough energy that it caused old Nomai technology to activate."

Kent lets out a breath. "They had been chasing the Eye of the Universe," he fills in gently. He's memorized Lapis' story.

[getfeldsparred]

The loops being connected to the Nomai makes sense - they’d been as powerful as they were mysterious efen in those early days.

“And what’s the Eye of the Universe?”

Any Nomai writing translation had come way after their time.

[videointhenoise]

"Um...that's a little more complicated. It is a way for a new universe to be created," they explain. "It's quantum. Like the quantum moon."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar makes a face, clearly still not understanding.

“That Nomai mural you brought back from the Attlerock, with the intricate symbol. You found it at an observatory that tracked the locations of all the other planets in the solar system.”

They nod; that much tracks.

“That symbol was the Eye of the Universe. It sent out a signal that the Nomai intercepted, essentially bringing them to our solar system. They were trapped in the Dark Bramble, but two escape pods managed to get free. That’s how they settled our sun system.”

“Okay,” Feldspar says slowly. “But…what is it? It brought a whole alien civilization to our doorstep.”

“Two, actually,” Lapis says, grinning lopsidedly. “Yeah, uh. It predates the universe. I guess it’s…the start and end of all things.”

[videointhenoise]

"It has no real explanation," Kent says helpfully. "From what I've found on Lapis' ship. The ship seemed to loop, too."

[getfeldsparred]

They quiet for a moment or two, just thinking about all of this. The loops, the Eye of the Universe, the destruction of everything they’ve ever known and loved.

“The Nomai didn’t cause our sun to explode though, right? Just coincidence?”

[videointhenoise]

"No," Lapis explains. "They wanted to, but it failed. So it was just - the end."

Kent shivers a little.

[getfeldsparred]

Just the end.

“We were just born at the end of the world, huh?”

Feldspar quiets and lays back down into the soft bed Gneiss had prepared for them.

“You’re the best there ever was, Lapis.”

[videointhenoise]

Lapis helps them down and pulls the blankets over them. "You should get some sleep. We're alright now. I'll tell you how I found this ship tomorrow, okay?"

Whatever tomorrow means.

[getfeldsparred]

‘Alright’ is pretty subjective, but they’re all alive right now, and that’s probably Lapis’ rubric at the moment. Feldspar nods very softly and closes their eyes, physically unable to keep them open anymore.

“I know you took care of Kent for me,” they whisper. “You’re braver than I ever was, Lapis.”

[videointhenoise]

"I did my best," they tell them as they adjust the blankets. "He's my dad."

He stands up and takes Kent's hand. "Come on, Pops." Another word Kent taught them, of course. "Let me give you the tour."

[getfeldsparred]

He’s my dad.

Feldspar pulls the blankets up tighter and tries not to let the words - or the sight of Kent crying - linger in their mind. They sleep fitfully, and then the fevers start.

“Everything’s catching up to them at once,” Gneiss says to Kent quietly, sitting with them by the high river on a makeshift bench. Marl and Esker had already been busy making the place livable for Hearthians.